Chapter 2-Day 9-Skye to Glasgow

---

Next two days are mainly travel days as we make our way from Skye to Glasgow and then onto Ireland so wont be too much to report, will still provide daily update though.

SKYE TO GLASGOW
Today we left Skye and headed down to Glasgow – back to the big smoke. On the way we stopped for a couple of photo opportunities – beautiful Scottish scenery – and we saw plenty today. Our first stop was at Eilean Donan Castle which sits on a small outcrop just inland from Skye, it is a magnifificent setting overlooking a loch. The castle is often used in promotional material for Scotland, with its perfect setting you can see why.

We travelled through some more spectacular Scottish countyside and stopped for lunch at the lake (loch) side town of Port William before heading to Loch Lomond for a lake cruise. The cruise was OK, 50 minutes on the Loch with a commentary that covered the basics. Fortunatley the weather held so we were able to experience it from the top deck.

GLASGOW
We did a drive around of Glasgow when we arrived in the city and the architecture was extremely impressive. Glasgow is Scotlands biggest town despite not being the capital. Its roughly devided into the affluent west side and more downtrodden Eastide. Formerly one of the worlds great ship building cities with over 40 sites, now there were just 2 or 3 left.

Glasgow is a big education centre and Glasgow University is one of the oldest in the UK, the main building is very impressive, it has a strong civil engineering faculty. There are actually 4 different universities in Glasgow.

For dinner we had an optional at Glasgows oldest pub. It was very cramped but a great atmosphere. There was a band playing later in the night and we had a good chat to a couple of the band members. It was shaping up to be a great night but against my better judgement we had to cut it short because of a 5.45am start tomorrow.

We stayed at the Marriot in Glasgow which was definitely luxurious and a very nice place to end our time in Scotland.

We really enjoyed Scotland, the family connection added another dimension, the scenery was very New Zealand like. The depth of history is just amazing. There were many fantastic memories from our time here too many to single out, however we particularly enjoyed the Orkney Islands.

---

Photos

Eilean Donan Castle
One of the most popular traditional Scottish scenes

Scotlands oldest Pub
A good night that but for an early start the next day could be a great one!

Loch Lomond
Getting ready for our boat trip on Loch Lomond